OFE launched its flagship program, the Financial Empowerment Center initiative,in 2008, after research found that many New Yorkers had never received formal education on money, and needed more structured, personalized counseling than was generally available. Read the full press release.

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, “the Bloomberg Philanthropies will give $3.3 million to Philadelphia to offer financial counseling for low-income residents.” In a move that will undoubtedly get Fast Eddie’s attention, the grant will go towards funding a Financial Empowerment Center, much like the ones in New York City, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he hopes will “create measurable change for low-income residents in Philadelphia.”Read the full press release.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, Living Cities Award $16.2 Million to Five Cities

Jan 09, 2013

Bloomberg Philanthropies and Living Cities, a collaborative of twenty-two of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions, have announced grants totaling $16.2 million to five cities in support of efforts to replicate New York City's Financial Empowerment Center model.Read the full press release.

Philadelphia, PA – Bloomberg Philanthropies and Living Cities’ Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund today announced that it has awarded Philadelphia with a grant to replicate New York City’s evidence-based Financial Empowerment Center model. Philadelphia is one of five U.S. cities to be awarded a grant, which will enable the City to deliver free, one-on-one financial counseling by trained professionals to low-income residents by integrating counseling into the delivery of municipal services.Read the full press release here.

Alex Wigglesworth - What began five years ago as a New York City-based pilot program aimed at alleviating poverty will now be expanded to Philadelphia and four other cities with the award of a $3.3 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies through the Living Cities' Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, the city announced yesterday.Read the full press release.

Bloomberg Philanthropies and Living Cities’ Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund today announced that it has awarded Philadelphia and Clarifi with a grant to replicate New York City’s evidence-based Financial Empowerment Center model. Philadelphia is one of five U.S. cities to be awarded a grant, which will enable the City to deliver free, one-on-one financial counseling by trained professionals to low-income residents by integrating counseling into the delivery of municipal services.Read the full press release.

Peter VanAllen - “We hope through this grant that the effective Financial Empowerment Center model will create measurable change for low-income residents in Philadelphia,” said New York mayor and philanthropist Michael R. Bloomberg. Read the full press release.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, a charity funded by New York Mayor and billionaire financial data mogul Michael Bloomberg, and Living Cities' Cities for Financial Empowement Fund, funded by a coalition of charities, said today they will give $3.3 million to Philadelphia, over the next three years, to staff and equip "Financial Empowerment Centers" at the Municipal Services Building, El Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Peoples' Emergency Center, the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, Community College of Philadelphia, and Community Legal Services at Broad and Erie.Read the full press release.

Bloomberg to donate $16.2 million to five cities for financial planning help

Jan 08, 2013

January 8, 2013 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to donate $16.2 million to five cities to help their residents learn how to manage money better, he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Tuesday.Bloomberg Philanthropies and Living Cities' Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund will give the grants to replicate New York City's 2008 program that gives free one-on-one financial counseling to low-income residents.The investment will fund programs in Denver; Lansing, Mil; Nashville.; Philadelphia, and San Antonio. The Financial Empowerment Centers will open in March and are expected to help 30,000 people over the next three years. "The innovative financial empowerment initiatives we pioneered here in New York City have been an important part of our work to help New Yorkers weather the national economic downturn," Bloomberg said in a statement. "We know that mayors are increasingly seeking strategies that will help their residents achieve long-term financial stability."